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From Forbes:

A two-day strike involving more than 1,000 workers at a Wuhan automotive components factory ended on Friday, after management increased its pay offer to an extra 200 yuan ($31.4) a month, effective from September.

Production line workers at the Youde Auto Electrical Components plant have been promised a basic salary of 1,300 yuan ($204.4) per month, which compares favorably to Wuhan’s minimum wage of 1,100 yuan ($173).

Although the pay offer was less than they were hoping for, the strike was generally considered a success.

One worker said, “If we didn’t take any action, we’d never get the pay we deserve.”

A receptionist at Youde said on August 27 that she was unclear about the strike situation and all the managers were unavailable for interview.

Youde, a joint venture between China’s Dongfeng Motors and the U.S.-based Lear Corporation, initially refused to address workers’ demands for a pay rise of 500 yuan ($78.6) per month, but it gradually made more concessions as the strike progressed. The first two offers were deemed unacceptable by the workers but after the third offer, in which long-serving employees got a better deal, the workers’ unity began to fray and most of the strikers agreed to return to work.

One of the reasons cited by workers for the success of the action were the losses incurred by the company’s failure to deliver orders for several auto makers on time.

In addition, workers were able to strike a good deal with the management due to the positive sales figures of Youde’s clients. Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen, one of Youde’s biggest customers, sold over 208,000 vehicles in the first half this year with sales up 7.6% from the same period last year. Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed the China’s passenger-car sales in July increased 10.8% yoy with 1.12 million cars sold.

The strike began on Wednesday morning as workers spread the news around their dormitories that nobody should go to work. Then, they set up an underground QQ group to discuss strategies for the strike. However, few workers were willing to take a leading role in negotiations with management over fears of reprisals. Workers admitted this reluctance to stand out from the crowd hampered their ability to get a good deal.

This was believed to be the first factory-wide strike at Youde, since the business was set up in the Wuhan Economic Development Zone in 1994. There had been a few earlier small-scale protests, workers said, but none led to a pay increase due to the lack of solidarity across the whole factory.

Youde didn’t represent them, even though they have to pay union dues of 24 yuan each year. The lack of union support meant that the only way workers could press their pay claim was to go on strike.

Without democratically elected representatives to negotiate a sustainable deal on their behalf, the workers simply had to hope that management would make an acceptable offer. There was no guarantee the promise to raise wages would actually be honored.

The Youde strike is reminiscent of many strikes in the Pearl River Delta a few years ago. Now, that region is seeing more positive signs in terms of trade union reforms and the development of collective bargaining initiatives.

This May, the Japanese-owned Ohms Electronics in Shenzhen held direct trade unions elections after more than 700 workers staged a strike demanding democratic elections for a new trade union chairman in March. Two months later, the new union chairman delivered a work report, saying the trade union had set up communication channels for workers and management. Ohms’ Japanese general manager reportedly welcomed the move.

A worker at a collective bargaining training center in Guangdong said that the provincial trade unions welcomed his organization’s endeavors and had actually invited him to several meetings to discuss collective bargaining. He had been involved in eight collective bargaining cases over the past year, primarily in the manufacturing sector, some involving up to ten or even 20 rounds of negotiations.

He said the preconditions for collective bargaining are generally that the factory is in good economic health and that the workers are united and their demands are legitimate. If these conditions are met, the prospects for collective bargaining in the province are bright.

From CLB:

A two-day strike involving more than 1,000 workers at a Wuhan automotive components factory ended on Friday 24 August after management increased its pay offer to an extra 200 yuan a month.

Production line workers at the Youde Auto electrical components plant have now been promised a basic salary of 1,300 yuan per month, as against the 1,100 yuan minimum wage in Wuhan.

Youde, a joint venture between China’s Dongfeng Motors and the US-based Lear Corporation, initially refused to address workers’ demands for a 500 yuan per month pay increase but it gradually made more concessions as the strike progressed. The first two offers were ignored by the workers but after the third offer, in which long-serving employees got a better deal, the workers’ unity began to fray and most of the strikers agreed to return to work.

Although the pay offer was less than they were hoping for, the strike was generally considered to be a success. One worker told CLB; “If we didn’t take any action, we’d never get the pay we deserve.”

The strike began on Wednesday morning (see photo above) as workers spread the news around their dormitories that nobody should go to work. They then set up an underground QQ group to discuss strike strategies. However, few workers were willing to take a leading role in negotiations with management for fear of reprisals. Workers admitted this reluctance to stand out from the crowd hampered their ability to get a good deal.

This was believed to be the first factory-wide strike at Youde, since the business was set up in the Wuhan Economic Development Zone in 1994. There had been a few earlier small-scale protests, workers said, but none led to a pay increase.

One reason for the success this time, workers said, was the significant economic loss incurred by the company during the strike, estimated by one worker at 3.8 million yuan. One of Youde’s biggest customers, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen, sold over 208,000 vehicles in the first half this year with sales up 7.6 percent from the same period last year. And there is still a generally positive outlook for sales in the Chinese automotive sector in the second half of the year.

There is a trade union at Youde but workers said it not represent them, even though they have to pay union dues each year. The lack of union support meant that the only way workers could press their pay claim was to go out on strike. But without democratically elected representatives to negotiate a sustainable deal on their behalf, the workers simply had to hope that management would make an acceptable offer. And there was no guarantee the promise to raise wages would actually be honoured.

The Youde strike is reminiscent of many strikes in the Pearl River Delta a few years ago. Now, that region is seeing more positive signs in terms of trade union reforms and the development of collective bargaining initiatives. This May, the Japanese-owned Ohms Electronics in Shenzhen held direct trade unions elections, and in August, the new union chairman delivered a work report, saying the trade union had set up communication channels for workers and management. Ohms’ Japanese general manager reportedly welcomed the move.

Moreover, a worker at a collective bargaining training center in Guangdong told CLB that the provincial trade unions welcomed his organization’s endeavours and had actually invited him to several meetings to discuss collective bargaining. He had been involved in eight collective bargaining cases over the past year, primarily in the manufacturing sector, some involving up to ten or even 20 rounds of negotiations.

He pointed out that the preconditions for collective bargaining are generally that the factory is in good economic health and that the workers are united and their demands are legitimate. If these conditions are met, he said, the prospects for collective bargaining in the province are bright.

From ZGMLHGM:

@红尘：武汉友德汽车有限公司全厂罢工 坚持住.工资降了，半年奖没了，加班费减了，福利待遇取消了，工作量加了，不罢工还干嘛啊

@付光美：友德公司真是抠门儿，要待遇没待遇，希望这次罢工能解决主要问题，每天风里去雨里来，换来的只是微薄的工资

@安娜：友德汽车电器有限公司老总对员工的承诺食言了，今天罢工，明天没回复还会继续哈哈哈哈

@吕亮：今天是友德不人道全体罢工~我敢预言如今不人道的中国不出二十年必定内乱~中国人民不是懦夫~只是把怨气埋葬着！全民爆发时就是另一个孙中山带领革新之时！

@慧：友德全体罢工、、罢吧、罢吧、不罢工资没的涨地、半年奖都没的、周末加班都只1. 5倍、改成“缺德”好了

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武汉友德汽车电器有限公司是位于武汉经济技术开发区的一家中美合资企业。公司成立于1994年，是由全球最大的轿车零部件厂家之一的美国李尔公司（75%）和中国东风汽车公司（25%）组建而成。公司注册资本为800万美元，投资总额1900万美元。

经营范围为研究、设计、实验、生产、销售汽车电线束、汽车电器以及相关汽车电器零部件并提供服务。1994年11月投产，目前生产的生产能力为150000车辆份/年。2004年和2005年销售收入分别达 27000万和37000万人民币，分别创税收约800多万和1300多万元人民币。

公司已于1999年12月通过ISO9002认证，2000年1月通过QS 9000认证，2003年11月通过ISO14001和TS16949认证。

公司主要客户包括神龙汽车有限公司、长安福特汽车有限公司、北京吉普汽车有限公司、法雷奥汽车空调湖北有限公司、西门子威迪欧电机（上海）有限公司等。